Dated: November 13, 2024
RECOGNIZING NOVEMBER 14, 2024, AS RUBY BRIDGES WALK TO
SCHOOL DAY IN SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
WHEREAS, Ruby Bridges is an American civil rights activist who, at the age of six, was the first black child to desegregate an all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis in 1960; and WHEREAS, Ruby Bridges, walked to school almost every day, and on her first day at William Frantz Elementary School was escorted by four federal marshals and spent the entire day in the principal’s office as angry parents marched into the school to remove their children; and WHEREAS, Ruby Bridges’ first day of school experience, as a result of the court order of Judge J. Skelly Wright, U.S. Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was commemorated by Norman Rockwell in his painting, “The Problem We all Live With”; and
WHEREAS, Ruby Bridges persevered, attending integrated schools through high school graduation and becoming an advocate for equal rights for all students; and WHEREAS, Ruby Bridges founded the Ruby Bridges Foundation in 1999 to promote, “the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences”; and WHEREAS, the scholars of Deborah Carlino’s fifth-grade class in 2017-2018, from Martin Elementary School in the South San Francisco Unified School District learned about the life of Ruby Bridges, and as a way to honor the Civil Rights Activist, proudly founded “Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day’; and
WHEREAS, at the request of Martin Elementary School of the South San Francisco Unified School District, the San Mateo County Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools adopted a Resolution No. 18-52 on October 17, 2018, creating Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day in San Mateo County to be honored annually on November 14.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco do hereby proclaim November 14, 2024, as “Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day” in South San Francisco and commend all students, families, and educators for participating in this significant day to honor the Civil Rights Activist.
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James Coleman, Mayor
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Eddie Flores, Vice Mayor
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Mark Addiego, Councilmember
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Mark Nagales, Councilmember
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Buenaflor Nicolas, Councilmember